Taro T

PLAYING ABILITY is the very 1st criterion. If being a "great" player isn't implied by that, then what's the point of the HoF at all?

Yes, "at some point" Adams will need to move on from some of these guys. But as long as he isn't giving guys NMC's, he'll be able to do so when he actually HAS to make those decisions. Dumping Mittelstadt in 1 year is likely cutting him loose BEFORE somebody is actually replacing / improving on his role on the Sabres. If Dahlin really does come in at $10x8 then Adams is looking at at least $5MM minimum in excess cap space from just Thompson, Cozens, and Dahlin. That right there pretty much locks Mittelstadt up for 4-5 more years without messing up the money available for any of the other kids. The cap is going up a lot w/in the 1st 2 seasons that Dahlin, Mittelstadt, and Power would be on new deals. Provided there is no NMC or a limited NMC, Mittelstadt (and pretty much anybody else) is more tradable by having a 4-5 year deal than by having a 2-3 year deal. We're getting to the point where we get to see how well Adams plan of having guys that want to be here and play with the other kids they came up with actually translates into real results as far as cap management goes. And the early returns (especially if the rumors that started this thread are correct) are very favorable in that light.

Possibly. Of course, Mittelstadt might just be one of the guys that Adams said he'd be able to keep in the fold if Dahlin did leave money on the table. (And if he takes $80 over 8 years, he definitely is leaving money on the table.) Mitts and Dahls were roommates for a while and they seem to still be good friends. Pretty sure it's those middle 6 guys that this deal ends up making affordable. Though you and many here expect Mitts gone sooner than later, personally expect he's here for 4-5 more years and then we'll see what happens. He likely becomes an odd man out at that point in time, but that's so far off and so many things can change between now and then. Management likes him and they've talked up his leadership in the past. (Doubt he ends up wearing a letter, but he is one of the guys that they like. That makes a difference.)

Josh Allen's Madden 24 covers:

Losing Krebs for Hellebucyk in that proposed package would be painful, but would do that every single day and twice on Sunday even without the guaranteed contract extension in hand. (Not every player that gets traded during his final contract year ends up walking at the end of the year. Sabres would still have 5 months of regular season before the trade deadline to figure out if/how Helly fits into their midterm/LT plans.) Would not offer Krebs in a package for Hart. Would reluctantly include 13OA for him but expect Adams could come up with a legit package for him that doesn't include 13OA. Might mean Olofsson, Filly's 2nd, and maybe Murray; but can see Hart costing less than 13OA + or Krebs +.

The gold standard was Savard, Lapointe, and Laperriere and then it got even better when Robinson took Laperriere's spot in that triumverate.

Today was running day for getting ready for a stint in the big charity hockey game at the end of the month, but bailed on it. Will probably Nordic Trac after dinner.

😄 What did you decide an hour later to give the 'no' reaction to? The agreement that facts should be used in discussions? Olofsson not getting benched until after Greenway arrived? The Sabres go to PP1 being 26, 72, 89, 53, & 24? Or, playing nearly a full season with a bum wrist might actually lower a guy's career S%? This could be good. 😉

And one for @Randall Flagg So expect 1 or 2 more restructures this summer.

FYI.

🧐

How are you getting this from his posts. He LITERALLY has said the current movement is "hurting the classic tomboy and feminine "male" that exist in higher numbers." You seem to be arguing right past him.

OK. So did the Flyers swap picks with Columbus or did they get Columbus' 2nd 1st rounder (what was LA's 1st) and are keeping their own. And if they swapped picks, did they get pick 3 from Columbus or pick 22? These 2 reports are contradictory.

Not sure what it means for Lawson, but pretty sure it means the Bills don't have to try to rush Miller back week 1 but can keep him on the PUP list until week 6 letting that knee heal up as much as it is going to do so. And when Miller is back, having a line of Miller Jones Oliver and Floyd on obvious passing downs with the possibility of sending Milano in as well should be giving OC's fits with the 2ndary healthy too.

To the bolded, why yes, yes we do. He got benched because they added Greenway. Not because he's a streaky player. Greenway gave the team something they had very little of and the team had many other goal scoring wingers besides Olofsson. Had Greenway not been added, he would not have been benched (regardless of how desperately many here wanted him benched). And for the majority of the year, when all were healthy the PP1 was Dahlin, Thompson, Tuch, Skinner, and Cozens. They did go to having both snipers on the ice together some in the latter part of the season when they were in "try anything to get this working again" mode, but it was not the standard PP they used the majority of the year. Would expect that Olofsson's S% moving forward would be closer to 15%+ than sub-14% as his S% was artificially low in Granatos 1st full season as he played most of it with a messed up wrist which Granato and Victor both admitted after the season was substantially messing with his shot. Would also expect him to get more shots should he play a full season. Both of which would make your estimate artificially low.

No team is giving him 2nd line minutes? The Sabres only 3 or so years ago were giving him 1st line minutes. Never say never. Also, he got 20 goals a year ago missing 10 games with a wrist injury and never really recovering from it until there were about 3 weeks left in the season. While playing through the injury his shot was a shell of it's normal velocity and accuracy. This year, he got 28 playing 3rd line minutes the significant majority of the season and 2PP for the majority of it as well; and that's with being benched down the stretch. Had he not been benched, even with the less than ideal usage (from his perspective, not from the team's) he was only 2 goals short of that round number. It's not crazy to expect that in 2 seasons, after he's adjusted to his new linemates that 30 goals is possible for him especially if he's getting 2W & 1PP usage.

Yeah, getting 2nd line usage 5v5 and 1PP usage is "the very most perfect season." 🙄 Should he get that, he has a very legit chance of getting to 30. If not, yeah, it likely would take a minor miracle for him to get there.

That's that other S country. The one Larry is actually from, not the one he's moving to.

Hopefully the players agree to no full NMC's. Even leaving a 10 team group that a player would be willing to be traded to would leave an awful lot of flexibility should Adams need to retool on the fly. Very much agree with the latter sentiment as well and as stated above, Adams has that luxury at this point for a little while longer. And expect he'll use that time unless a deal that simply knocks his socks off becomes available.

All of this. PLUS the Sabres COULD fill all 4 legit roster holes they have (1A/1B goalie, #3/4D, additional #5/6D, and 4C/PK specialist) via free agency. IF the right trade is there (and don't forget the 28 goal man that didn't have a spot in the top 12 last year as a trade piece), sure trade away something that might hurt. But right now, Adams ISN'T in a position where he HAS to make a trade to get the team over the hump. The right trade could definitely help in that regard; but don't see him having a glut that has to be addressed until most likely next off-season and possibly the following one. At that point, there will necessarily be some good players (either prospects ready to make the jump or vets losing their jobs to younger guys) that will need to be traded away to both fill current holes and to stretch the window out. And realistically we could see as few as only 1 new body coming onto this team from the outside (really don't see any way around them bringing in a 4D and simply don't see him in the organization unless either Lybushkin or Jokiharju make a substantial jump) but really hope Adams brings in at least 2 if not 3 of those pieces. All 4 would be great, but just not seeing it actually happening. And getting back to the thought on trades, yes, some of these pieces won't max out their potential, but am expecting more of them will be making a jump from last year to this upcoming one than will be stalling out and that will make whomever is (are) the guy(s) without a chair when the music stops all that much more valuable to a trade partner. Will use a guy this kid really likes as an example, Peterka has decent trade value today as a rookie 12 goal scorer; but he'll have serious value if he becomes a 24 goal scorer next year. And if the usual 2nd line stays together next year, he could very well make that jump. Would hate to see him traded away, but he (or Krebs or ______) might be the key piece to bring in one of those few pieces the team is still missing next year or the year after. As long as the team keeps improving &/or they aren't regressing but the window is getting wider am ok with just about any move Adams makes. Though there will start to be trades that do hurt initially. Since the Eichel deal, there hasn't been anything of note that went out the door; we're likely into the last year of that being the case.

Any word on whether that would be for 7 or the full 8 years? Thought he MIGHT settle for $10.5-11 per on a 7 year deal (and that the full 8 years would cost the full $96MM) but if they could get him locked up for 8 years at $10/year that would really help them keep the mid-tier guys or an extra one of the kids when they're ready for a big boy deal. Kevyn's talk of guys wanting to be here might have seen him actually finding guys that really DO want to be here and want to be here with a really strong core of other good players around them. Mr. Adams, please let this be true and keep locking these guys up before their skills force the bank to be broken wide open.

Perhaps he won't. But, had he not been healthy scratched several games this year &/or had he gotten more PP1 usage, he very likely would've done it this past season. Depends on where he's at and who he's playing with. If he's getting top 6 usage and more importantly PP1 on a decent team wouldn't bet against it ever happening. (And, no, wouldn't bet on it happening either. That's kind of the point of using the word COULD; it's a possibility but far from a certainty.)

Don't overlook Olofsson. 28 goal scorers don't just grow on trees and if he goes to a team that'll put him on the top PP he could hit 30.

Was hoping he'd become a Ra-cha-cha fixture, but the money in Switzerland is better than the A IIRC, and him leaving isn't a loss to Buffalo. He'd've been somewhere between 10 - 12 on the Sabres depth chart by the time October rolls around.

You have to avoid at least 2 weeks of games - 1 to set up and one for the actual hockey game. And then you can't do anything on that field until late in the next week. It's a grass field; if there are ANY issues with keeping the surface in good condition, you could have a serious mess in that next football game played right after the Ice Bowl. The league won't go for that. And the NHL won't go for less than 6 days to get the ice set up. (NYD '28 falls on a Saturday.) The Bills aren't going to be good with not having access to their field for 2+ weeks in the stretch to the playoffs. They are no longer being run by Russ (if it makes money it's a good thing whether it will help with wins or not and whether it ticks fans off or not) Brandon. No way does Pegula go along with a Winter Classic in the new Mausoleum. A Stadium Series game, quite possibly; but would the league go for an outdoor game near the shores of Lake Erie in February? The possibility of a nasty storm rolling through is probably higher than the league would want to go for. Still not sure why the Sabres have never been the visitor in one of these games. A ton of Sabres fans would show up for one.